Collet holder



Nov. 20, 945, w. c. LEA

COLLET HOLDER Fned oct. 2S, 1945 ATTORN EY.``

Patented Nov. 20, 1945 emissio Sintes PATENT oF i i assasve e,utilitie-nonnina William. 3f-ikea, Los Angeles. Calif: Appiictinn.,ombenfzs, maserisrne.. strata 1: claim.. (ci. areas).A

This invention relatesY toimprovements; in holding devices-Mandi may be: termedr `a collet holder.

An object of the invention is to. provideuandevice that will hold any one of a number of replaceable ccllets of" varioussizesV and? which will serve as a handle tl'rereforv enabling the; colIet to firmly-'grip any typeof small` articlethei size or which corresponds tothe size of! the collet employed. In many.i industries it. is desirable to be ableto firmly gripa smallarticle', which article may either be worked? on or mayr bea toolthat is: to; be. employedin working onotherA objects. It is desirable to be able. to` quickly; insert the article intothe collet andi cause the colletto 'rml'y.v grip the.' article; Aty the sameA timel itis desirable tobe able toinstantlyfrelease thearticle and replace it with another article.

Another object ofi they inventionY is to provide a collet holder'consisting offa sl'eeve constituting a handle adapted to receive anyl one cfa number of replaceable: collets, the sleeve having; a seat for the collet and to provide anV actuating means within the sleeve-that is connectabl'e toethecollet, the actuating means projectingfrom thesleeve andbeing spring-actuated to'causethe collet to normally contract whereby the collet will be normally maintained ingrippingl conditionbut may be caused to instantly release theegri-pped@ article onforcing the actuating means against the action of its spring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a collet holder consisting of a sleeve constituting a handle having a seat for a collet therein and having an actuating means Within the sleeve connectable to the collet, the sleeve and actuating means having opposed shoulders with means for maintaining the opposed shoulders in spaced relation which means may optionally'be a spring or a rigid spacer whereby in the event that an extremely hard grip on the article is desired which is greater than that which is capable of being created by the spring. The rigid spacer may be employed to secure the required mechanical advantage.

Another object of the invention is to'provide a collet holder having the above-mentioned characteristics wherein the actuating means is tubular having a bore coaxial with the center of the collet enabling articles held to extend therethrough and to provide means for optionally closing the bore for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following de-A -be inserted between the tailed description and specilically7 pointed.` outin the appended? claim, reference is had to the'- ac"- companyingdrawing' for an illustrative embodiment'fofthe invention; wherein Figurer 1i is a view-y in' side elevation holder` embodying thepresent' invention; Fig: 2i is a longitudinali section through- Vthe same.;

Fig. 3 isa viewtaken substantially uporr the lineI Zie-Supon` Fig. 2i in the direction: indicated; and I Eig. 4 is a View: similar toiFigl. 2; but illustrating modications ashavingAVV been incorporated: Y

Referringto the accompanyingdrawing-wherein similar reference characters designate similar partsthroughout; the improvedy collet holder com-k prisesan outer sleeve mi preferably externally kriurl'edlA as indicated at IiI softhatitmayconsti'-4 tutea suitablehandl'e. rIfhis sleevefhas adjacent one end! a taperedseat t2' engageable by thefjaws I3 ofa collet, generally.l indicated at I4; longitrir dinally divided soas tepref'eralclyl form three-)jaws as: indicated in Fig- Slim conformity; with convertn tional collets. ThepresenthclderA is designed#- to receive any.l one of' a numberfof-t different collet's thatdiffer'in size from each other. llt isinternally'threadedasindicatediat t5:

Wlthinthesleeve tithere is disposed" an actuator lhavlng an externallyl threaded portion I1 thatzmay be screwed. into'the threads I5? 'oni the collet. This actuator projects from the other end of sleeve I0 and the projecting portion may be knurled as at I8 to facilitate its being turned so as to screw it into the collet. On the actuator there is an external shoulder I 9 arranged in opposition to an internal shoulder 20 on the interior of the sleeve. A coil compression spring 2| is disposed between these shoulders and is normally under compression.

The operation and advantages of the abovedescribed construction are as follows:

The compression of spring 2| urges the actuator I 6 toward the left as viewed in Fig.l 2, so that it will draw the collet I4 into engagement with its seat I2 so as to grip any article A that may jaws of the collet. As the taper of the seat I2 is slight usually being in the neighborhood of a, 3 angle, the jaws will be normally urged to contract about the article A and firmly hold it in position. If it is desired to replace article A with some other article this can easily be accomplished by forcing the projecting end of the actuator I6 inwardly with respect to the sleeve I I), thus overcoming the compression exerted by spring 2|. As the collet is thus un- Of' the:v collet v moved and replaced by collet. Varying the extent to which the actuator is screwed into the collet will affect the compres;

sion of the spring. However, if it is desired to cause the collet to grip upon article A to a greater extent than that alforded of spring 2l the spring 2l may be quickly rea solid bushing 22 that is interposed between the lshoulders I9 andz l and maintains these shoulders in spaced relation.

When the bushing 22 is employed rotation of the actuator I6 relative to sleeve l0 causesit to screw into the collet andthe collet is consequently drawn against its sea-t l2 with great mechanical advantage.v Consequently the jaws willbe caused to grip uponthe article A with great force.

'In the construction illustratedI the'actuator is preferably tubular in form having a bore 23 therethrough so that if the article A is lengthy or if it is Lin the form of a continuous `wire, that is fed from left to right through the actuator and through the collet the bore will serve to accommodate it. In some, instances, however, it is desirable to provide abacking for the end of the article inthe event thatit is to be thrust upon with considerable force. To thisv end, I provide a removable closure 24 having a shank receivable in the threaded end of the actuator andV having a head25 adapted to be positioned against the forward end of the actuator. With this ternporary closure in place, if the articleA should be a screwdriver for example, the shank of the screwdriver may be positioned againstA the closure, as shown in Fig. 4, and the closure will serve to prevent slipping of the article longitudinally between the collet jaws inthe event that the screwdriver is .thrust Vupon with considerable force. It will be understood that the temporary closureA 24 need not-'be employed onlyr with the bushing 22 as illustrated in Fig. 4, but that it i5Vl by the y compression may optionally be employed in the holder in conjunction with spring 2|.

From the above-described construction it will be appreciated that the improved holder permits of quick and easy insertion of articles A to be gripped, and when the spring 2l is employed it enables these articles to be automatically gripped upon release of the actuator I6. Whenever it is desired to replace article A the collet can be caused to instantly release .by forcing ,the actuator i6 forwardly', In Ithe "event that' V the spring will not cause the collet to grip the article sufciently it may be easily replaced with the bushing 22 and under either circumstance, the replaceable clo sure' `24 may be employed if of the holderA are easily and quickly assembled and disassembled facilitating the removal and replacementv of acollet with another collet of different lsize making the holder susceptible of a wide'variety of uses.

Various changes may be made in the details lof construction. withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined .by the appended claim.

I claim: l A collet holder comprising atubular body having a cylindrical axial bore therethrough the forwardend of which'is tapered correspondingly to -thevexternal taper of a collet, a contractible collet havingacylindrical portion iitting the cylindrical portion ofthe bore -and having lan externallyl tapered head adapted to be drawn against the tapered interior of the body, the rear end of the body Ybeing internally enlarged to provide shoulder, an actuator fitting the internally enlargedV portion of lthe body and projectingrearwardly from the bodyy the forward end ofthe actuator being externally reduced providing a forwardlyfacing shoulder and being threaded in-to the rear of the collet, and a compressionY spring disposed between theshoulders and varound the forwardly extending portion of the actuator, the actuator beingl tubular from end to end thereof, vand a stop having-a shank receivable in the forward end of the actuator and a head adapted lto abut against the forward end of the actuator Within'the collet for limitingthe extent to which articles may be inserted through the collet. f

, j WILLIAM C. LEA.

desired. The partsV 

